User:Lukepag/sandbox

North Shore is known for its extreme high surf in the winter season, starting around early November and possibly lasting to as long as June or July. Waves around this time averages out to around 16 feet, measured from top to bottom of the waves “face” -- the side of the wave that faces the shore. However, during the peak of the season, these waves can rise to around 35 to even 60 feet in size. Because of this extreme size and power that occurs every winter, coastal erosion increases and can pose a great threat to houses along the shoreline. Moreover, these intense swells also cause the tide to rise to unusually high levels, further contributing to coastal erosion and also leading to major flooding throughout the North Shore. These floods can disrupt coastal wetlands, putting important ecosystems in danger and threatening their habitat. It can also greatly damage business and economy in the North Shore, as it can damage shop interiors, merchandise, and force certain businesses to close. Although the majority of the North Shore’s coastal erosion is caused by the extreme surf during the winter season, there are many other factors that contribute to erosion such as climate change and rising sea levels. Climate change, referring to a change in the usual weather patterns and temperatures, often results in rising sea levels because of thermal expansion in the water. As our ocean waters continue to get hotter due to climate change, it expands resulting in the rising sea levels. From 1950 to 2015 our oceans temperature rose by 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit. This may seem like an extremely gradual process, but because our oceans are so massive, it can be extremely significant. In fact, this change in temperature has actually led to more than 6 inches of sea level rise, causing on average a 233% increase in tidal flooding across the U.S. Higher seas amplify the effects of storms, hurricanes, rainstorms, and high tide, increasing the significance of these events. However, the majority of this rise in sea level occurred in the last 20 years because the rate of sea level rise is accelerating, with levels rising about one inch every eight years, and that rate is expected to continue accelerating. As for Hawai’i specifically, the speed at which the sea levels are rising has increased, with levels rising as much as one inch every four years. Scientists expect sea levels to continue rising, forecasting that in the next twelve years, the sea level will have risen by another six inches depending on how fast the ocean will warm and the ice will melt. This combination of a constant gradual rise in sea levels, climate change, extreme surf, susceptibility to storms, floods, hurricanes, and high tides causes a great level of coastal erosion that can put homeowners on the shoreline at extremely high risk. Moreover, this erosion can permanently change the beaches and surf breaks on the North Shore because of the severe amount of land lost.